Alkane Inc (ALKN)

[etopia]

North Star Diamonds CEO Audio Interview on EFNN

On Monday, March 22, 2004, I conducted a 30-minute interview with Walter Stunder, President, North Star Diamonds Inc., in which we talk about all aspects of North Star Diamonds, Inc. Before I give you the URL for the MPEG-4 streaming audio version of our conversation, I need to say a few things.

1. If you don't have an MPEG-4 compatible audio browser, you can get one for free at:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/

2. The Etopia Financial News Network™ (EFNN) server where this interview is posted can serve 120 audio streams at once, but the upstream connection it has to the Internet can only accommodate four 56 kbps streams at one time. Obviously, something has to be done about this situation if the hundreds of iHub members who might want to listen to it are to be able to do so.

3. I've calculated that to buy storage space and streaming bandwidth on a more advantageously-positioned server would end up costing me about $ .25 to stream one 25 MB file such as the Stunder/North Star Diamond interview. What I lose on each listening I suppose I could make up in volume, but it might not be that easy.

4. If each listener clicked around 10 times on the Google AdSense ads on the EFNN page, I might break even or make a little profit, except that Google's lawyers are relentless in their efforts to prevent anyone from asking, urging, or suggesting to anyone that they click on these ads, saying that this diminishes the value proposition to the AdWords customers who pay for these ads.

5. I'm looking into setting up a micro-payments system that would charge listeners a micro-payment of $ .50 per half-hour file access. This would cover my expenses and yield a nice per-listen profit. But would people pay half-a-dollar to listen to a literate, thorough, and useful interview with the CEO of a company in which they are thinking of investing? It's an open question. Maybe I could sell subscriptions.

6. So could you do me a favor? Go to the North Star Diamonds interview and listen to it, realizing that if you're not one of the first four people there, you won't be able to listen now. You can come back later though, and try again. Also, you can send me an e-mail at [e-mail] and tell me what you think about using AdSense ads, a per-listen charge of $ .50, or a subscription arrangement to finance the increased bandwidth necessary to provide access to all those interested to this and the subsequent series of interviews I want to do with top management at the other companies as they appear on the iHub Hot Stock Boards Today. Anyone with the foresight and capital to invest now in the Etopia Financial News Network™ is also welcome to contact me at that e-mail address.

7. That's it then. You can get to the interview with Walter Stunder by going to http://www.celcast.biz then clicking on "Etopia Financial News Network™," then clicking on
"3-22-04—Etopia Financial Network News Brief #2: While diamonds may be a girl's best friend, North Star Diamonds may be a good investment for anyone" or you can just go here:

http://63.206.28.68/pages/efnn/efnn2.html.

Thanks for your time and attention.

Regards,

Marc Strassman
Reporter
Etopia Financial News Network
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Publisher
Celcast.Biz